SKOWHEGAN — Shaun D. Corson of Madison told his mother Sandra Walker on Sunday that he thought he may have hurt his girlfriend in Florida last month.

Or maybe even killed her.

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Shaun Corson Somerset County Jail

Friday, Corson, 33, was in district court in Skowhegan on a fugitive from justice warrant from Jacksonville, Fla., where he is accused of killing his girlfriend, Stephanie Ann Slevin, 31, and stealing her car.

The fugitive from justice warrant heard Friday listed only a charge of grand theft auto, but District Attorney Evert Fowle said Corson is also charged with Slevin’s homicide.

Corson will remain in jail without bail. He was ordered Friday by Judge Peter Darvin to serve the remaining three years of a suspended sentence on a Maine probation stemming from a 2002 arson, in which he was convicted of burning down his then-girlfriend’s house in Anson, and was sentenced to 10 years with all but four suspended, and six years probation.

The Florida case started with charges of grand theft auto, Fowle said.

“But between June 28 and yesterday they upgraded the charges to homicide, to murder,” Fowle said. Corson was also wanted for failing to report to his Florida probation officer.

He is being held at the Somerset County Jail in East Madison. Extradition to Florida will involve what is known as a governor’s warrant between the governors of Florida and Maine, which Corson can contest with a court hearing. In his video arraignment Friday, he said he will fight extradition. Fowle said the process could take months.

Corson was represented Friday by Frank Griffin, a court-appointed attorney. Assistant District Attorney Neil Mclean is handling the case for the state.

Fowle said he considers Corson to be a very dangerous person and will appeal to state Department of Corrections officials to do all they can to ensure that he is watched closely and possibly moved to the state prison.

“This is one of the most dangerous people we’ve dealt with in quite some time,” Fowle said. “Right now he has nothing to lose. I just want them to have no doubt who they are dealing with here. This is a very dangerous, very violent person who is now charged with capital homicide in Florida.”

His mother said the murder charge did not come as a complete surprise to her. She believes her son is capable of committing such a crime.

“Sadly, I do — he is bipolar,” Walker said by telephone Friday. “He was diagnosed probably six years ago in prison. I said my good-byes on Sunday. He just said he thinks he hurt her really bad; he may have killed her.”

Walker said she met Slevin, who visited Madison with Corson around Christmastime. She said they had been together about a year.

“Stephanie was a wonderful girl,” Walker said.

She said her son “was a good kid growing up and did a little football at Madison (High School).”

“It just really hurts. He’s a nice guy … always has been and every so often he … loses it.”

Contacted by phone Friday morning, Slevin’s father, Roger Slevin of Jacksonville, had a different view of Corson.

“He’s certainly a piece of (expletive),” Roger Slevin said. “I knew they had arrested him; the detectives called me right away, the ones down here. I think the detectives down here were great and I think the marshal’s office did a wonderful job.”

Slevin declined to discuss the case further until he and his wife, Rosalind, could gather their thoughts and prepare a public statement.

Corson was arrested by U.S. Marshals and Maine police Thursday afternoon on Ward Hill Road in Norridgewock, near the Madison town line, according to authorities.

Slevin’s body was found June 26 in the bushes at the Savannah Oaks apartment complex in Jacksonville. The Jacksonville sheriff’s office said witnesses told investigators that they noticed a woman’s body wrapped, possibly in a blanket, according to a report published by First Coast News in Florida.

Slevin was face down and her body showed signs of trauma, according to the report. Her last known address was in the same complex. Neighbors said they did not hear gunshots. It’s unknown if the crime happened where the body was found or elsewhere, according to the report.

A witness told the Florida Times-Union that the killing involved “some type of domestic dispute,” but police did not release a motive or cause of death. The police affidavit on the fugitive warrant was sealed Friday at the Skowhegan court.

Doug Harlow — 474-9534dharlow@centralmaine.com